Description

ABSTRACT

With regards to soya bean meal in the feed consumed by livestock, this research was carried out to evaluate soya bean meal on weight gain and their Packed Cell Volume (PCV). Ten albino rats (Rattus norvegicus) were used and were divided into two groups. Group I serves as the experimental and was fed with 10g of soya bean meal mixed with 100g of chick’s mash. Group II serves as the control and was fed with 100g of chick’s mash. Both groups were allowed access to drinking water. The experiment lasted for five weeks and statistical analysis (ANOVA) was used to determine the effect of soya bean meal. The result showed that there was a significant increase in the mean weight of rats in the experimental group than that of the control group. Thus, the mean weight of the experimental group was 152.36g and that of the control is 134.60g. The mean PCV of group I was 23.80% and that of group II was 17.16%. There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the PCV of rats fed with soya bean meal inclusion and the control group. Soya bean meal was also found to have a significant effect (P > 0.05) in the increased weight of the albino rats in the experimental group. The inclusion of soya bean meal was found to increase the palatability and the ability of the experimental animal to fully utilize the feed as such, it is highly recommended for livestock farming.

Keywords: Soya bean meal (SBM), Albino rats, Packed cell volume (PCV), Growth performance